Saratoga News

Photograph by Robert Scheer

Virginia and Louie Saso will continue working in their herb garden and sharing their knowledge in classes several times a year.

Saso Herb Gardens to close nursery operation Sept. 14

Lectures, classes will continue

By Michelle Alaimo

The owners of Saso Herb Gardens will close the company's nursery forever Sept. 14 in order to spend more time on their herb garden, which covers the majority of their one-acre lot.

The gardens will still be open one day a month during April through September for tours, lectures and classes. The Sasos will also offer special group tours for a fee.

"It's just hard to stop cold turkey," Virginia Saso said. Tending to both the garden and the nursery, she said, has become more work than they want to do right now.

"I can't keep hauling stuff in a wheelbarrow anymore," Louis Saso, 81, said.

The Sasos will continue to sell herbs until the nursery closes. After that, they will concentrate on their garden and hope to gain a few apprentices to help them tend it. Virginia said they started an apprenticeship program about two years ago through which the apprentice helps with the upkeep of the garden in exchange for learning about herbs. She said the program has been successful so far.

After pictures of their herb garden were published in a Japanese garden book last year, Miyuki Sakamoto, a restaurant owner in Japan, came to Saratoga to learn about growing herbs from the Sasos.

But Virginia said people have many more resources for herbs than when they first opened their garden. The Sasos know it's easier for customers now to find what they want elsewhere.

The Sasos moved into their Fruitvale Avenue home in 1962, at which time they planted a few culinary herbs. They later learned more about medicinal herbs and began planting them. Then they started selling plants in 1974, and by 1980, the property was virtually covered with 1,000 different plants.

For a calendar of events or more information, call 867-0307. Saso Herb Gardens also has a Web site which lists upcoming events and uses for herbs at http://www.saso.com/herbgardens.

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